On Sat, Mar 21, 2009 at 09:50:17PM +0000, Skip Gundlach wrote: > > For example, there’s a design flaw in Honda eu2000I generators. [snip] > That design flaw causes starter-cord failure, and getting to the > recoil mechanism requires virtual disassembly of the generator.
True enough; I was shipmates with one for about 3.5 years, until just recently, and experienced the "complete joy" of dealing with that problem. The design flaw, of course, is that the recoil mechanism is mounted badly out of line with the cord guide in the case, effectively guaranteeing chafe on this heavily-loaded part. In addition, the recoil starter is wound *backwards* from the direction that would work best with that case layout. > I’m getting pretty good at disassembly and reassembly, > not more than about a half-hour start to finish. [laugh] Both my wife and I got really good with it too. The way I finally managed to stop mine from wearing, or at least to prevent the chafe effectively, was simple: I polished the back of the cord guide with very fine-grit sandpaper and lubed the cord with Teflon grease, which I carefully rubbed in, then wiped off. Months later, there was still no perceptible wear on the cord; the only effect was that the cord was now a dark-brown color instead of white. Unfortunately - and I'm offering this as food for thought to anyone who owns an EU2000i - these generators seem to last only about 3.5 years on the average (this is my experience, plus the reports of quite a few other liveaboards.) Any failure in one beyond the basic spark plug/oil/air filter maintenance requires _very_ expensive service and even more expensive parts. Mine had a problem in the top end... which would have cost me $690 _just in labor_ to repair. According to the dealer, there is no head on the engines used in these units - that part is integral - so the entire motor needs to be replaced for something like a piston ring problem. Unbelievable. By way of contrast, I can get a Kipor 3000THi - similar shape and size, about 10 lbs. heavier but puts out 1kW more than the Honda - for less money, or I can get a 2.5kW Honda open frame generator (louder but more powerful, and significantly cheaper to buy and *much* cheaper to service), either of which will power everything I need including my high-power compressor. Either way, I'm off those little Honda generators for life. That wasn't the only design flaw that I spotted in them. [ Oh, and - it's nice to be here; hello, everyone. I've been living aboard for 18 years and running across posts here for quite a while. I finally decided/managed to subscribe, my first attempt of a couple of years ago having failed. ] -- * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET * _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
